Lawn mower roller and support



C. E. GRIMES LAWN MOWER ROLLER AND SUPPORT Filed Sept. 8, 1958 //vzE/$/r0/P 5 67142155 5 GR/MES LAWN MOWER ROLLER AND SUPPORT Charles E.Grimes, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Tom Manufacturing Corporation,Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed Sept. 8, 1958, Ser.No. 759,494

3 Claims. (Cl. 56-249) This invention relates to mowers. Moreparticularly it relates to grass mowers having inherent featuresdesigned to obviate or substantially reduce the adverse effects causedby bouncing of the machine when moved rapidly over rough terrain.

It is a general object of my invention to provide a novel and improvedgrass cutting unit which is designed to substantially reduce the adverseefiects attendant with bouncing of the machine when the latter is movedover relatively rough terrain at a moderate speed.

A more specific object is to provide a grass cutting unit the parts ofwhich are so constructed and arranged as to successfully dampen out theadverse efiects of the tendency of such a machine to bounce whilepassing over rough terrain.

A still more specific object of my invention is to provide a novel grasscutting unit having a roller mounted thereon in such a manner as tosubstantially reduce the tendency of such a unit to bounce while passingover rough terrain with consequent irregular cutting patterns.

Another object is to provide a grass cutting unit utilizing aspring-loaded roller wherein the spring loading extends between theframe of the individual cutting unit and a movable mounting for theroller whereby rough terrain may be passed over with the unit withsubstantially reduced adverse cutting effects as normally experiencedwith conventional rollers.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similarparts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view with parts broken away and shown in section of agrass cutting unit embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line 3-3 ofFig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the same.

One embodiment of my inventionis shown in Figs. l-4 wherein a singlegrass cutting unit is indicated generally by the numeral 5 and iscomprised of a rigid ambulant frame indicated by the numeral 6 whichrotatably mounts a pair of wheels 7 and 8 at the forward corners thereofand which is supported at the rear by a roller 9. The frame 6 includesside plates 6a and 6b which support the roller 9 as hereinafterdescribed. The grass cutting unit or mower 5 may include as shown a reeltype cutting mechanism 10 which cooperates with a bed bar 11 to effectthe cutting operation. The reel 10 is preferably driven by a separatesource of rotary power (not shown) or if desired, may be driven throughthe use of traction wheels in the conventional manner well known in theart.

The roller 9 is rotatably supported at each of its ends by a slottedvertically extending member such as 12 and 13, these members beingslotted longitudinally as indi- 2,968,905 'Patented Jan. 24, 1951 catedby the slot 13a. These slots provide means for a vertically adjustableconnection with corresponding mounting arms 14 and 15, respectively, theconnection thereto being effected through the use of a pair of bolts 16and 17 which pass through the slot of the correspond ing vertical memberand the associated mounting arm. When this connection is made, member 13and mounting arm 15 act as a single connecting member between one end ofthe roller and the mower frame, and member 12 and mounting arm 14provide a similar connecting member at the other end of the roller. Theroller 9 therefore is capable of free vertical pivoting movementrelative to the frame 6 through the pivotal mounting of the mountingarms 14 and 15 at their forward ends upon the side plates 6a and 6b. Itwill be noted that these mounting arms 14 and 15 extend rearwardlyrelative to the frame 6, and that portions of members 12 and 13 extenddownwardly from said mounting arms.

Each of the mounting arms 14 and 15 .is provided with an inwardlyextending ear such as 14a as shown in Fig. 3. Each of these cars isprovided with a vertically extending opening 14b through which a bolt 19extends upwardly therethrough. The bolt 19 extends through a laterallyextending bar such as 20, 21 which are each rigidly affixed to frame 6.A compression spring such as 22 and 23 is carried by each of the bolts19 to spring load each of the mounting arms 14 and 15 against the frameof the individual cutting unit.

From the above it can be readily seen that the roller 9 is spring loadedagainst the frame 6 of each cutting unit so that the roller 9 may moveupwardly against the compression of the springs when a stone,obstruction, or rough terrain is encountered by the roller. The roller 9pivots about its mounting arms 14 and 15 against the compression of thespring so that the frame 6 will not bounce in the ordinary mannernormally attendant with grass cutting units whereon the roller isrigidly mounted upon the frame as is conventional in grass mowers. Thisspring loading and pivotal mounting of the roller 9 tends tosubstantially reduce the bouncing normally experienced with grasscutting units whereon the mower is rigidly mounted upon the frame of theunit. By substantially reducing the tendency of the grass cutting unitto bounce over rough terrain and moving at a moderate speed, I havegreatly reduced the undesirable cutting pattern which is a normalconsequence of such bouncing. It should be noted that the compressionsprings of my grass cutting unit are contained entirely within theindividual mowing unit and do not add to the pressure which the rollerexerts on the ground due to the weight of the mower as would be the caseif the upper ends of the springs were bearing against a vehicle frame ora master frame for a plurality of cutting units. It does permit theroller to fiy upwardly quite freely when it strikes a bump, stone or thelike and thereby reduces the amount of this motion which is transmittedto the rest of the mower. This results in a more stable ride for thecutting knives of the reel 10 and consequently a smoother cut of thegrass.

One advantage of a mower equipped with a spring loaded roller of thetype described herein is that it may be coupled to any framework orpropelled in any manner and the springs will function to reduce thebouncing tendency. My spring loaded pivotal mounting of the rollerpermits the roller to bounce but prevents this portion from beingtransmitted to the rest of the mower and thereby substantially improvesthe cutting pattern of the mower.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which consists of the mattershown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A ground roller mechanism adapted for use with a reel type lawnmower, said mechanism comprising a Wheeled frame, a pair of spacedmounting brackets, each of said brackets including a rearwardlyextending portion pivotally mounted to, one side of said frame and adownwardly' extending portion, a roller rotatably mounted on said secondsupport members, and resilient means. extending between said frame andsaid mounting brackets continuously urging said roller downwardly, saidresilient means and said mounting brackets co-operatively permittingsaid roller to rise and fall relative to said frame to thereby reducebouncing of said frame and the mower cuttingmechanism as the mowertraverses the ground.

2. A ground roller mechanism adapted for use with a reel type lawnmower, said mechanism comprising a wheeled frame, a pair of spacedmounting brackets, each of said brackets including a first supportmember pivotally mounted atone end'to one side of said frame andextending rearwardlytherefrom, and a second support member securelyattached'in a substantially vertical posi- I tion to the other end ofsaid first member, a roller rotatably mounted on said second supportmembers, and resilient means extending between said frame and saidmounting brackets continuously urging said roller downwardly, saidresilient means and said mounting brackets co-operatively permittingsaid roller to rise and fall relative to said frame to thereby reducebouncing of said frame and the mower cutting mechanism as the mowertraverses the ground.

3. A ground roller mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein said secondsupport members have axially extending slots formed therein, andadditionally comprising securing means extended through said secondmember slots and into engagement with said first members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 818,301 Sayre Apr. 17, 1906 1,172,444 Farmer Feb. 22, 1916 1,754,741 Cobbet al. Apr. 15, 1930 2,372,300 Speiser Mar. 27', 1945 2,629,222 JohnstonFeb. 24, 1953

